Growing
up, all of us youngsters remember Mom and her siblings talking about
the rumors of another sibling. It seems that Samuel Reed and his wife
Emma "Gussie" Reed of Lawrenceburg, Indiana may have had a mystery child
that they never mentioned or talked about, except in whispers.
No one knew anything about this sibling. They weren't sure that he/she ever existed. I found mention of her first when I was combing a book by Milton A. Masing (Dearborn County, Indiana, Cemetery Records, Volume A, Part 1) and found mention of Elizabeth Reed (born in 1903, died in 1905). The book listed the parents, but the last name was spelled Reid, not the more common Reed. I put the note in my 'to research further' folder (you know, the folder that is about six inches thick), knowing that one day I would come back to it.
Well, it is the day. I ordered a microfilm from Salt Lake with church records of the German Presbyterian Church. My excitement grew as I found more and more records of my known family...birth, marriage, baptism, death. But then I saw .... HER .... I found a record of HER birth. I saw where Elizabeth Irene Reed, the daughter of Samuel Reed and Augusta Courts was born on 16 October 1903 in Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County, Indiana. SHE DID EXIST!! It gave her baptismal date as 11 February 1905, when she was about 16 months old.
So why the secrecy? Since none of Sam and Emma's children remember Elizabeth, there is a good chance she did not live long enough to meet her siblings. Perhaps the memory of losing a child was too much to deal with. I needed to find out more. It was time to roll up my genealogical sleeves and see what I could find and what I could deduce.
After searching through more of the microfilm, I found that Samuel and Emma were married on 13 August 1904, ten months after Elizabeth was born. I also found her death date, 15 February 1905, a mere 4 days after her baptism. After talking to a wonderful woman at the Dearborn County Department of Health, who did a real time search of the records for me, we found out Elizabeth, my Aunt Elizabeth, died of pneumonia. Her mom and dad must have known she was very ill and decided to have her baptized in their local church. The light bulb is starting to brighten. Piecing the facts together, I begin to understand the mystery and the secrecy.
Unfortunately for Elizabeth, being born out of wedlock in the early part of the 20th century was looked down on. Even though her parents eventually married, the stigma was still there. That is a possible reason why she was not talked about to the rest of the family. If it had not been for a notation in a library book, her very existence might have been forgotten forever.
I am happy, exalted, grateful that I was able to bring the memory of Elizabeth alive. As we all know, a person is never really gone as long as their memory is held by at least one person.
Welcome to the family Aunt Elizabeth.
No one knew anything about this sibling. They weren't sure that he/she ever existed. I found mention of her first when I was combing a book by Milton A. Masing (Dearborn County, Indiana, Cemetery Records, Volume A, Part 1) and found mention of Elizabeth Reed (born in 1903, died in 1905). The book listed the parents, but the last name was spelled Reid, not the more common Reed. I put the note in my 'to research further' folder (you know, the folder that is about six inches thick), knowing that one day I would come back to it.
Well, it is the day. I ordered a microfilm from Salt Lake with church records of the German Presbyterian Church. My excitement grew as I found more and more records of my known family...birth, marriage, baptism, death. But then I saw .... HER .... I found a record of HER birth. I saw where Elizabeth Irene Reed, the daughter of Samuel Reed and Augusta Courts was born on 16 October 1903 in Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County, Indiana. SHE DID EXIST!! It gave her baptismal date as 11 February 1905, when she was about 16 months old.
So why the secrecy? Since none of Sam and Emma's children remember Elizabeth, there is a good chance she did not live long enough to meet her siblings. Perhaps the memory of losing a child was too much to deal with. I needed to find out more. It was time to roll up my genealogical sleeves and see what I could find and what I could deduce.
After searching through more of the microfilm, I found that Samuel and Emma were married on 13 August 1904, ten months after Elizabeth was born. I also found her death date, 15 February 1905, a mere 4 days after her baptism. After talking to a wonderful woman at the Dearborn County Department of Health, who did a real time search of the records for me, we found out Elizabeth, my Aunt Elizabeth, died of pneumonia. Her mom and dad must have known she was very ill and decided to have her baptized in their local church. The light bulb is starting to brighten. Piecing the facts together, I begin to understand the mystery and the secrecy.
Unfortunately for Elizabeth, being born out of wedlock in the early part of the 20th century was looked down on. Even though her parents eventually married, the stigma was still there. That is a possible reason why she was not talked about to the rest of the family. If it had not been for a notation in a library book, her very existence might have been forgotten forever.
I am happy, exalted, grateful that I was able to bring the memory of Elizabeth alive. As we all know, a person is never really gone as long as their memory is held by at least one person.
Welcome to the family Aunt Elizabeth.
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